Related content

Case 46 - Nursery school owner banned from taking children to allotment due to health and safety concerns

Issue

The press reported that a nursery school owner had been banned from taking children to her allotment due to health and safety concerns. The local council decided that the allotment was being used in an inappropriate way and complaints had been received from other allotment users that fencing, which had been erected to safeguard the children, made access difficult for them.

Panel decision

There is no health and safety legislation, which prevents young children being taken onto allotments for an educational visit. There is some indication that the measures taken to safeguard the children at the site presents an inconvenience to others. It would be better if this matter could resolved by trying to find a solution which is acceptable to all parties rather than denying children this experience.